The present disclosure is generally related to the field of color rendering devices such as image/text printing or display systems and to methods and systems for characterizing color output devices, such as color displays, printers and printing devices thereof. Characterization of the underlying mapping (forward transform) from a printer or display's internal device dependent color space (e.g., CMY, CMYK, RGB, etc.) to a perceived print-out color space (e.g., La*b* or other device independent color space) is important to achieving color consistency within and across color reproduction devices. In practice, this color mapping varies from device to device, and over time in a single device, due to physical conditions such as temperature, humidity, inks or other marking materials, printed media type (e.g., paper stock type, thickness), component wear and tear, and manufacturing tolerances associated with the reproduction devices. The characterization of the forward color mapping facilitates adjustments in the rendering process via control algorithms to adjust individual devices in order to achieve color consistency across product lines and over time. Conventional forward transform characterizations utilize either physics-based or data-fitting models. Physics-based modeling is based on the physical aspects of the printing/rendering device, such as the xerographic process and the half-toning pattern used, whereas data-fitting techniques measure color patches created from various CMYK values, and a mapping is created based on the input and output data values. Data-fitting models are employed by either interpolating nonparametric lookup tables or evaluating parametric analytical functions that fit the data. In general, however, the accuracy of nonparametric models is dependent upon the number of data points used in the initial characterization, and thus cost considerations may limit the extent to which a given device is characterized accurately. Moreover, adapting such models over time is cost prohibitive. Parametric modeling, which somewhat more cost effective with respect to computational overhead, is often unable to accurately characterize all aspects of a device's performance.